Indo-Pakistani Sign Language Grammar - Typological Outline (Zeshan)

ULRIKE ZESHAN
Indo-Pakistani Sign Language

Grammar: A Typological
Outline
I - P Sign Language (IPSL) is the sign lan-

guage used by deaf communities in urban centers in parts of the In-
dian subcontinent. The language community is large, estimated at
several hundred thousand signers, if not more (Vasishta, Woodward,
and Wilson ). IPSL is not known to be related to other sign
languages of either Asia or Europe. Its exact geographic extension is
not known at present. Previous research (Zeshan b; Woodward
) suggests that IPSL may be in use throughout India, Pakistan,
and Nepal with varying degrees of dialectal variation, but this has not
yet been investigated in detail, nor has its possible use in other coun-
tries of the Indian subcontinent (e.g., Sri Lanka, Bangladesh). This
article is based on the variety used in southern and central Pakistan
and northwestern India.
Ulrike Zeshan holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Cologne and
has been working as a Research Fellow at the Research Centre for Linguistic Typol-
ogy in Melbourne, Australia. She has done fieldwork on sign languages in Pakistan,
India, Turkey, and Lebanon, and her main interest lies in exploring the typological
diversity across sign languages, a project that she is currently pursuing for the Ger-
man Science Foundation.
This article consists of selected sections from a typological grammar sketch that
was written for the Research Centre for Linguistic Typology (RCLT), La Trobe
University, Melbourne, as part of a research project, The Categories of Human
Languages. The sections here are reprinted with RCLTs permission, slightly re-
arranged, and renumbered. Most of the information is based on Zeshan (a,
b) but is cast in a typological framework here.

S L S V. N. W
S L S
1. Grammatical Profile
IPSL is a visual-gestural language that uses the hands and arms, facial
expressions, eye gaze, and head/body posture to encode linguistic
information. A manual sign has various formational components or
parameters that are realized both simultaneously and sequentially and
constitute the sign. These are handshape, place of articulation, move-
ment (path movement and internal movement), orientation, and
nonmanual features. Manual signs can be simultaneously combined
with linguistically meaningful facial expressions, eye gaze, and head/
body posture. Simultaneity is extremely important on both the lexi-
cal and the morphological level.
IPSL has both isolating traits and a fair number of derivational
processes. It has no affixes in the sense of a sequence of morphemes
because all of morphology is realized as simultaneous modifications
of one or several of the formational parameters. Morphology is al-
most entirely derivational, with a possible exception of directional
signs (see section ..). The derivational morphological processes
are characterized by optionality and a high degree of idiosyncratic
variation. Because of the simultaneous nature of the processes, the
articulatory form of signs may block the application of morphological
rules.
IPSL has three open lexical classes that can be distinguished on
the basis of their behavior in space (i.e., not modifiable in space,
changing place of articulation, and directional movement between
two points in space). The first two classes are multifunctional items
and do not correlate in any way with syntactic functions or semantic
characteristics. The third class (directional signs) has mostly verbal
properties. Closed word classes include functional particles, classifi-
catory stems, nonmanual signs, discourse particles, and indexical
signs. IPSL has no modals, articles, adpositions, or conjunctions.
Sentences are always predicate final, and all of the signs from the
open lexical classes can function as predicates. Ellipsis is extensive,
and one-word sentences are common. There is a strong preference
for sentences with only one lexical argument. Constituent order does
not play any role in the marking of grammatical relations. These are
coded exclusively by spatial mechanisms (e.g., directional signs) or
inferred from the context. Temporal expressions usually come first in
Indo-Pakistani Sign Language Grammar
the sentence, and if there is a functional particle, it always follows the

predicate (e.g., (My) father died
yesterday). Functional particles are operators with scope over the
whole clause and assign the clause to a certain clause type (interroga-
tive, negative, imperative, completive, or existential). Modification
within a referential expression is coded as simple apposition (e.g., I
my father). If there is an index (pointing sign used for
localization), it usually comes last (e.g., the
deaf teacher).
Derivational morphology includes various optional markings for
plurality in both arguments and predicates (e.g., dual, distributive,
iterative), various Aktionsart (kind of action) derivations (e.g., gradual,
unrealized, alternating), numeral incorporation, and classificatory
stems. The marking of grammatical relations (always source-goal re-
lationships) in transitive directional predicates has a more inflectional
character. A transitive directional predicate moves between two loca-
tions in space: the source (the initial location) and the goal of the
action (the final location). This is roughly equivalent to person agree-
ment by bound pronominals. With respect to this construction IPSL
is basically head-marking, but there can be spatial agreement between
the arguments and a directional predicate, with the spatial location
marked on the argument. Animate arguments in goal function can
employ a dependent-marking mechanism. IPSL has some highly
productive morphological processes. Classificatory stems consisting
of a handshape morpheme can combine with a large number of
movement specifications to refer to the position and movement of
entities in discourse. The number of hands and extended fingers, ori-
entation of the hand in space, and internal movement can also vary.
Complex sentences involve either simple apposition of coordi-
nated clauses or a general subordinating construction that relies on
facial expression and rhythm to express a semantically vague relation-
ship between the clauses (e.g., conditional, temporal). Facial expres-
sions are of paramount importance in the grammar for coding clause
types such as interrogatives and negatives. They can also indicate var-
ious adverbial modifications.
IPSL is almost always used in face-to-face interactions and is a
highly context-dependent language. The basic vocabulary is rather
small (probably around four to five thousand signs). One way of
S L S
compensating for this is the use of productive morphological con-

structions such as those involving classificatory stems. Such produc-
tive multimorphemic processes are iconically motivated. Another
way to expand on the comparatively small number of lexemes is the
semantic vagueness of many signs. For example, IPSL employs a set
of signs denoting geometrical shapes that can be modified in a highly
productive way.
In the organization of discourse, spatial modification of signs and
spatial arrangement of referents again play a very important role. In
localization processes referents are identified with locations in the
sign space, and this spatial arrangement can also be used for anaphoric
reference and for constructing various types of discourses (e.g., enu-
merations, contrasts). The signer can identify with the perspective of
one of the discourse participants, and conventions govern the choice
of perspective. Elaborate spatial descriptions are easily realized in
IPSL and are particularly common in narrative texts.
2. Word Classes
2.1. Open Lexical Classes
The only straightforward way to divide lexemes into different open
lexical classes is by morphological criteria (i.e., the way they behave
with respect to the sign space). This yields three classes: () signs that
cannot be modified in space, () signs whose place of articulation can
change, and () directional signs. Classes one and two do not corre-
late with any syntactic or semantic criteria. Class three has mostly
verbal properties.
... Signs That Cannot Be Modified in Space. These signs have a fixed
place of articulation either on the body or in relation to the body.
Morphological processes that require the use of sign space, such as
distributive forms, spatial positioning, or directionality, are not appli-
cable. Signs may be eligible for nonspatial morphological processes.
All of the signs denoting body parts and many of the signs denoting
feelings or cognition fall into this category, but many more of the
signs cannot be categorized semantically. Signs in this group are
multifunctional, that is, they can appear in various syntactic slots
without any formal modification. In particular, they can all be predi-
cates. Examples are the signs for hearing (person), fear, be afraid,
mother, again, once more, die, dead, death, start, begin-

ning, to mean, meaning, self, do oneself, and black.
... Signs with Changing Place of Articulation. Signs in this class have
a default place of articulation in their basic form, but this location
may be shifted in sign space. This class comprises signs that are either
articulated in neutral space or have one hand (active hand) articulat-
ing on the other hand (passive hand). Such signs can be localized
by articulating them at a place different from the default place of
articulation, and they can spatially agree with other signs (e.g., for
marking contrasts in space). They cannot move between two points
in space. Semantically this class is entirely heterogeneous and is used
multifunctionally like the first class. Examples are the signs for
good, grow up, (to) end, friend, friendship, different, an-
other, outside, war, fight, and marry, marriage, spouse.
... Directional Signs. Directional signs move between two points

in space and express relationships between the referents associated
with these points. Movement is always from a source location to a
goal location and can express local movement (from here to there)
or grammatical relations (e.g., subject, object). From a semantic point
of view all of the signs in this class are inherently relational. They
often describe a transfer in some sense, that is, a concrete transfer
(giving, taking), an abstract transfer (e.g., of knowledge in
teach), or a transfer of information (tell). The class is relatively
small, with about fifty members, but it is not a closed class. New signs
can be added, but IPSL has no morphological process that converts
the lexical items of the other two classes into directional signs. Direc-
tional signs behave like verbs in that they appear preferably in predi-
cate position and select arguments, that is, they have two argument
slots corresponding to the beginning and end points of the move-
ment. However, they can be arguments of other predicates as well,
even though this is less common. The morphological behavior of
members of this class varies from sign to sign and warrants division
into three main subclasses: Multidirectional signs can move around
in space freely between any two locations. They mostly have to do
with describing the movement and location of entities (e.g., go (by
any vehicle or on foot), fly in a plane, walk). Bidirectional
S L S
signs can move both away from and toward the body of the speaker
but not between two points in space. Some bidirectional signs
change the orientation of the fingertips or the palm, whereas others
do not (see figure ). Unidirectional signs are signs that involve one
fixed and one variable place of articulation between which they
move. So movement is either away from the body only (e.g., see)
or toward the body only (e.g., collect).
2.2. Closed Lexical Classes

... Nonmanual Signs. A limited number of signs in IPSL are made
without any manual component, that is, without using the hands.
These include the following:
: IPSL has no manual sign for yes, although some people
use a yes sign borrowed from another sign language (American
Sign Language in particular). Instead, in IPSL yes is signaled by a
vertical head nod. The right and left head tilt that hearing people in
the region commonly use is not used to mean yes in IPSL. Head
nods also have various other functions either by themselves or with
accompanying manual signs (cf. section ..).
: No can be signaled by a side-to-side headshake. There are
also various manual negative signs (see section on negation). A
headshake is equivalent to neutral negation but cannot signal con-
trastive negation. Headshakes again have various other functions in
grammar and discourse.
F . Directional signs with and without changing orientation of the finger tips
(s.o. helps me, I help s.o., s.o. helps me, I help s.o.)
Some adverblike meanings can be signaled in IPSL by accompa-

nying manual signs with particular facial expressions. These facial ex-
pressions signal diminutive, augmentative, and negative meanings as
well as difficulty/hardship. However, these facial expressions are not
words in the sense of minimal free forms, that is, they do not occur
by themselves.
... Classificatory Stems. Classificatory stems consist of a handshape

word stem that simultaneously combines with complex movement
patterns to indicate the location, movement, and handling of various
entities. These subsystems rely on iconicity but also include arbitrary
grammatical rules that determine which combinations are possible
and how they can be used.
In handling handshapes the hand assumes a shape appropriate
for handling a particular entity (e.g., a flower or a glass), and a move-
ment is added to express events of giving, taking, putting, and so on.
Other handshapes stand for classes of entities (humans in particular)
and convey their position and/or movement (e.g., the number of
people involved, the direction of movement, or their position in re-
lation to each other). A V handshape is used for (person by) legs
and a G handshape for person (whole entity), whereas vehicles are
not referred to by classificatory handshapes.
2.3. Closed Classes of Shifters

Compare section .. and section .
2.4. Closed Grammatical Systems

Articles, adpositions, and conjunctions do not exist in IPSL. The
pronominal and demonstrative system appears under the heading
indexical signs (section ..) because it bears more similarity to a
grammatical than to a lexical subsystem.
... Functional Particles. Functional particles are signs that assign a

clause to a clause type. They have scope over the whole clause. Not
every clause has a functional particle, but if there is one, its syntactic
slot is always the clause-final position (i.e., after the predicate). There
is only a single position for a functional particle in each clause, so
combinations of several particles are not possible (cf. sections ..
S L S
and .). The functional particles (see figures ) and correspond-

ing clause types are as follows:
neutral positive imperative, distant force

: nonpolite positive imperative, immediate force
negative imperative
: neutral negative
:_: contrastive negative
: content question
_: completive aspect
existential
... Discourse Markers. IPSL has a number of manual and nonman-

ual discourse markers. They fall into two broad categories: markers
structuring the text and markers regulating sender-addressee interac-
tions. See section . for details on text-structuring discourse
markers.
... Indexical Signs. Indexical signs in IPSL include the equivalents

of pronouns and demonstratives in other languages and an auxiliary.
They are realized by pointing at various locations in sign space.
F .
F . :
F .
. . . . . Pointing
signs with an extended index finger, when used anaphorically, are
equivalent to pronouns. However, the index is also used to localize a
referent in sign space, that is, to indicate a point with which the
referent is to be associated in the following text. (For details on the
forms and uses of pronouns, see section ..)
S L S
F . :
F . :_:
. . . . . The proximal demonstrative

(here) and the distal demonstrative (there) are pointing signs
with a flat B handshape. They share a unique numeral category with
the index (see section ..). For details see section ..
F . :
F . _:
. . . . . The auxiliary consists of pointing at two lo-

cations, with a smooth transitional movement between the two. It
indicates a relationship between the referents associated with the two
locations and is similar to directional signs in this respect. The seman-
tic content of the relationship is specified in the main predicate,
whereas the auxiliary is semantically empty, that is, it means only I
to you, he/she to him/her, you to him/her, and so on. The
S L S
F .
auxiliary occupies the same syntactic slot as the index in its localizing
function, that is, immediately before or after the main predicate (the
index occurs immediately before or after the sign it localizes). For
details on the use of the auxiliary see section ..
3. Relationship between Word Class and Functional Slot

For the three open word classes in IPSL (see section .) it is difficult
to argue for a clear noun-verb distinction. Accordingly, all of the
words can be both predicates and core arguments. However, certain
preferences are associated with the class of directional signs and pro-
vide some of the arguments for calling directional signs verbs. On
the other hand, there are no comparable arguments to establish a class
of nouns.
Directional signs are much more likely to be in the clause-final
predicate slot than in the argument slot. Moreover, when they do
occur as arguments, they tend to occur with a limited number of
predicates, that is, with evaluative judgments such as good, bad,
problem, liking, and so on (but cf. example . with the direc-
tional sign ). No morphological changes need to be made to a
directional sign to put it in argument position, and the construction
is identical to clauses with arguments from the other open word

classes, for example:

.. Sign: :: :.
mor: eat good
tra: The food is/was good.

.. Sign: :.
mor: help- good
tra: Its good to help everybody.
Signs from the two multifunctional open word classes appear in

both the predicate and the core argument slot without requiring
morphological derivations. All of the signs can be predicative on their
own when they appear in a one-word clause.
.. Sign: .
mor: sad
tra: Its sad.
.. Sign: .
mor: woman sad
tra: The woman is sad.
.. Sign: :.
: I
tra: I dont like sadness/to be sad.
.. Sign: :.
mor: book
tra: Its a book.
.. Sign: :.
mor: give_gift book
tra: The gift is a book.
S L S
.. Sign: : :.
mor: book red
tra: The book is red.
4. Marking of Basic Syntactic Relations

Marking of basic syntactic relations always involves the grammatical
use of space in IPSL. Three spatial devices are used: index (section
.), auxiliary (section .), and directional predicate (section .).
Auxiliary and directional predicates are head-marking devices,
whereas indexing can be considered dependent marking. Word order
does not play any role here. Sometimes there is no overt marking of
syntactic relations, in which case interpretation of the clause depends
on pragmatic inferencing (section .).
4.1. Realization of Constituents, Word Order, and Pragmatic Inference

In IPSL it is quite rare to find sentences with more than one lexical
participant. Typically, situations tend to be split up into several prop-
ositions (e.g., The man lied. His wife was angry rather than The
man lied to his wife.), or one of the participants is understood from
the context (e.g., if there is a chain of activities carried out by one and
the same person). Sentences with one pronominal and one lexical
participant are more common. If there is no overt marking of syntac-
tic relations, interpretation of transitive clauses depends on pragmatic
inference, since the order of agent (A) and object (O) is not indica-
tive of the syntactic relation.
.. Sign: : :.
mor: child- I love
tra: I treat the children with love.
Inference: The speaker is a teacher, and teachers are responsible for
treating children in a certain way.
.. Sign: : .
mor: here deaf help
tra: The club here helps the deaf people.
Inference: The club has more resources to help deaf people than the
other way around.
4.2. Index
O arguments (those involving less-agentive participants) can be marked
by an index (pointing sign), but this applies only to humans (and other
animate referents whose perspective a signer may adopt; see section
.). Inanimate referents cannot be marked with an index to indicate
the syntactic relationship, so example . is ungrammatical:
.. Sign: _: .
mor: hearing -left I afraid
nmn: ---
tra: I am not afraid of hearing people.
.. Sign: * : ::.
mor: apple child eat
tra: A child is eating an apple.
Pronominal forms in O function cannot be marked by an index
because they are themselves indexical (see section .). Usually the aux-
iliary is used in this case to indicate both A and O (see section .).
It is important to note that the index is not an object marker per
se. Rather, the correlation between index marking and object func-
tion is indirect and has to be explained through the notions of per-
spective and localization. As section . explains, the signer can take
the perspective of one of the discourse participants, representing this
participant with the signers own body. Typically, the signer assumes
the role of the more agentive participant (see section . about
this term), and a number of devices can achieve this. On the other
hand, localization blocks a change in perspective, and indexing is an
important localization device. A participant that gets localized is
placed at a location away from the signer, which makes it less likely
for the signer to identify with this participant. Since this preferably
happens with less-agentive participants (i.e., O arguments), a high
correlation exists between O arguments and indexing.
4.3. Auxiliary
The auxiliary is a member of the class of indexical signs (see section
...) and expresses spatial agreement. It is semantically empty
except for the agreement relationship itself (translatable as he/she to
S L S
me, you to him/her, etc.; see figure ). Like directional predi-

cates (see section .), the auxiliary indicates the syntactic relationship
in space, with the beginning point associated with the source of the
action and the end point associated with the goal of the action (see
section . for a discussion of the terms source and goal).
With nondirectional predicates (i.e., predicates that do not show
syntactic relations in space), the auxiliary immediately follows the
predicate (example .). However, the auxiliary can also occur in
combination with a directional predicate, resulting in the double
marking of syntactic relations (example .). In the latter case, the
order of auxiliary and main predicate is more variable, with the auxil-
iary preceding, following, or appearing on both sides of the predicate
and with other constituents able to come in between predicate and
auxiliary. The auxiliary can stand alone when the main predicate is
ellipted and is recoverable from the context or when a communica-
tive act (say, tell, talk, inform, etc.) is expressed (example .). In the
latter case, the auxiliary itself seems to have meaning.
.. Sign: ?
mor: understand front-
nmn: -----------------
tra: Do you understand me?
F . Auxiliary: you to him/her

.. Sign: :: ::.
mor: left- all complete teach-left-
tra: He taught me everything completely.
.. Sign: :: .
mor: Yasin right- deaf little
tra: Yasin told me that there are few deaf people.
The auxiliary can be further inflected to express more complex
relationships. The form in figure can be used if A and B take turns
to do something (I to him/her, then he/she to me, etc.), whereas
another reciprocal form indicates that A and B are simultaneously in-
volved in the action (to each other; figure ). Moreover, auxiliaries
can be serialized to trace the exact flow of actions, as in the following
example, which describes an indirect telephone conversation:
.. Sign: $:: :
mor: sign work -front front-left
Sign:
mor: left-front front- -front
Sign: .
mor: both-front-left
tra: I discuss the matter via an interpreter.
F . Auxiliary: I to him and he to me

S L S
F . Auxiliary: to each other
Here the interpreter has been assigned the front locus, and the
person at the other end of the telephone line is at the left locus,
whereas the signer is representing himself. The auxiliaries trace the
flow of communication among the three people.
4.4. Directional Predicates

This section describes directional signs that indicate transitive relation-
ships and does not consider those that indicate locative relationships.
Transitive directional predicates indicate syntactic relationships
through movement between two points in space. For a unified ac-
count of the spatial agreement phenomenon it is useful to refer to the
source and the goal of an action rather than to the terms sub-
ject and object or agent and patient or A and O. The
generalization then holds that the beginning point of directional predi-
cates is always associated with the source of the action, and the end
point is always associated with the goal of the action. Often the source
corresponds to A function and the goal to O function, as for
instance in the signs :: teach, help, ::
tell, and give gift (see figures and ). However, with
some signs this relationship would seem to be reversed if thought of
in terms of A and O functions, as for instance in the signs :
invite, : collect, and :: call (see figures and ).
In such signs movement would seem to be from O to A. However, if
F . I teach s.o., s.o. teaches me (Karachi variety)
F . I tell s.o., s.o. tells me
thought of in terms of a spatial relationship (and metaphorical exten-

sions thereof ), it is obvious that collecting involves transferring things
to the collector (the A in traditional terms), that when calling
someone, the person called moves from his source location to the loca-
tion he is called to, and that a guest comes from another place to the
hosts place when invited. Therefore, in spatial terms, marking for
source and goal is consistent in IPSL.
S L S
F . I invite s.o., s.o. invites me
F . I call (someone)
IPSL has various subclasses of directional signs (cf. section ..).

Most transitive directional signs are either bidirectional or unidirec-
tional. Bidirectional signs can move both toward and away from the
body (e.g., : invite, :: teach, help,
and give gift). Within these, some signs change the orienta-
tion of the hand in addition to the direction of the movement (e.g.,
:: teach and help). Unidirectional signs have
one fixed place of articulation, so they move either toward the body
only (e.g., : collect) or away from the body only (e.g., -
: see), thus marking only one of the two arguments. In the
latter case, first-person goals (to me) can be expressed by moving
the hand outward first and then turning back to end on the signers
body. A few transitive directional signs in IPSL can move between
two points in sign space. This is very rare, although it occurs regularly
with multidirectional locative predicates. Accordingly, the signer al-
most always takes the perspective of one of the participants in the
action (usually the more agentive one; see sections . and .) and
represents this participant with the signers own body. Only the sec-
ond participant is localized in sign space.
Marking of syntactic relations in directional predicates can be
considered equivalent to a head-marking mechanism in which the
verb takes obligatory pronominal affixes for the A and O arguments.
In IPSL it is more difficult to segment source location, goal location,
and predicate stem due to the simultaneous nature of the sign as a
whole, but it makes some sense to argue at least for an ordering of
elements where source precedes goal.
5. Shifters
5.1. Pronouns
Pronominal reference is one of the functions for which the index is
used in IPSL. The index has the full set of IPSL number distinctions
(cf. section ..), that is, transnumeral (figure ), dual, nonspecific
plural (distributive form), and iconic plural (see sections .. and
.. on plurals). Even with first-person reference the index pointing
at a single location is transnumeral (i.e., not marked for number), so
that the difference between I and we cannot be expressed in the
pronoun. A single point to a locus in sign space can refer to any
number of entities.
The dual form has a handshape with two extended fingers (index
and middle finger). This is a suppletive form in the otherwise forma-
tionally regular pronominal paradigm. In IPSL more than two ex-
tended fingers are not used to refer to groups of more than two, so
there are no separate triple or quadruple forms. The dual pronoun in
IPSL involves a to-and-fro movement between the two points of
S L S
F . Index, transnumeral
reference, that is, either the signers body and a point in space for
/ dual or two points in space for // dual (figure ). The
choice of points is fully productive, so it is possible to express all
kinds of inclusive-exclusive-like distinctions, for example, me and
he/she, me and you, both of them, both of you, you and
he/she, and so on.
In addition to the numeral categories shared with other form
classes, the pronominal index has a particular nonspecific plural form
with a half-circle horizontal movement (see figure ). This form
refers to humans exclusively and occurs only within the class of in-
dexical signs, that is, with the index and the demonstrative.
F . Index, dual (/-/ and -/)

F . Index, plural personal
IPSL has no separate forms for nonemphatic possessive pronouns.

The index is used in the same form in the possessor slot preceding
the possessed item, for example, I father (i.e., my father) (see
section . on possessive NP constructions). Emphatic possession
(my own) can be expressed by substituting an A handshape (fist)
for the index finger point, but this is much less common. IPSL also
has an emphatic pronominal form (see figure ) that refers to
people. In some IPSL dialects (e.g., Karachi) occurs in only
one fixed form and has unspecific reference (x-self ). Reference
specification is provided by a coreferential term co-occurring with
, that is, if co-occurs with the first-person pronoun it means
myself ; if it occurs with a persons proper name it means herself/
himself, and so on (cf. examples . and .). Note, in particular,
that is not a reflexive pronoun in any IPSL variety.
.. Sign: $$.
mor: I . try
tra: I tried it myself.
.. Sign: .
mor: Sohail . money-front
tra: Sohail paid it himself.
S L S
F . Emphatic pronoun
5.2. Deictics
There are two forms of demonstratives with flat B handshapes (i.e.,
with all of the fingers extended). One of them points to the location
directly in front of the signer (here, this); the other one points at
any other location in sign space, with the fingertips always facing
away from the signer (there, that). The latter form can form a
plural by adding a half-circle movement and then refers to a group
of people like the corresponding plural of the index. There is no dual
form.
A particular form of the index is also used in a deictic function. It
points downward in front of the signers feet and may have either
temporal-proximal or spatial-proximal meaning (i.e., time or place
close to the signer). Its temporal meaning can be translated as both
now and today; its spatial meaning translates as here. The
location in front of the signers feet is never used for pronominal
reference. Other time shifters are lexical signs that do not involve
pointing. They are, however, arranged with reference to a so-called
timeline that is deictic in nature and runs from behind the signers
shoulder (indicating the past) to the front of the signers body at a
lower level (indicating the future).
6. Number Systems
6.1. Number Systems Operating in the Grammar
IPSL has a complex number system with several numeral categories.
The basic pattern involves transnumeral, dual, nonspecific plural, and
iconic plural. Both of these plural categories contain subcategories.
The numeral categories of singular and plural personal are restricted
to one word class each.
... Transnumeral. All of the basic forms of signs except classifica-

tory stems are transnumeral, that is, they are indifferent as to number
and may have any singular or nonsingular reference. This is true for
both referential and predicative expressions. All of the forms other
than the transnumeral are optional and are subject to various articula-
tory and idiosyncratic constraints.
... Dual. The dual is formed by replicating the handshape, place

of articulation, and movement of one hand with a second hand. Each
hand then stands for one referent or for an action performed by one
referent. It can be formed only with signs that
are one-handed in their basic form

do not have a two-handed variant along with the one-handed form
are not articulated on any body part
The index meets all of these requirements but does not form a
dual according to this pattern. Rather, it has a suppletive dual form
(see figure in section ).
The number two can also be expressed within the iconic plural
and within numeral incorporation (see section ...).
... Nonspecific Plural. Nonspecific plural refers to any unspecific

number greater than two. IPSL has three morphological processes
that produce nonspecific plurals: Either the handshape of a sign is
changed or the movement pattern is changed, with repetitions added
either at the same place of articulation (iterative form) or along sev-
eral locations in a horizontal line (distributive form).
S L S
. . . .
. This morphological derivation forms plurals by the appli-
cation of two repetition patterns: The iterative form has repetitions
at the same place of articulation, whereas the distributive form has
repetitions at a number of different locations next to each other in a
horizontal line. The derivation applies to both referential and predi-
cative expressions with signs from all of the three open lexical classes
(see section ) in principally the same way. However, only a limited
number of signs can undergo both derivations; otherwise applicabil-
ity of one or both of the derivations depends on formational features
of the signs. A contrast in meaning (iterative form meaning several
referents or repeated action and distributive form meaning sev-
eral referents in various places or action repeated in various
places) exists only in signs that are able to undergo both derivations
(figure shows the sign :: half in its basic form and with
both derivations). In all of the other cases, the interpretation of either
form is simply nonspecific plural.
Formational constraints on the applicability of the two derivations
are the following:
Signs that already have repeated movement in their basic form can
undergo only a distributive derivation.
F . The sign : basic, distributive, and iterative forms

Signs that are made on the body usually cannot undergo a distribu-
tive derivation (a few such signs are attested with the position of the
torso changing instead of the place of articulation of the hands).
Hold signs can undergo only a distributive derivation, not an itera-
tive derivation.
Signs that are made on the body and have repeated movement in
their basic form cannot form any plural.
Signs that consist only of contact with some body part cannot form
any plural. These signs behave like hold signs with respect to the
iterative derivation and like signs made on the body with respect to
the distributive derivation.
Fingerspelled words or letters cannot form any plural, with the ex-
ception of a few letter-meaning correspondences that are so fre-
quent that they behave like lexical signs rather than fingerspelled
letters (e.g., initial letters of the days of the week).
Iterative and distributive derivations are more productive in IPSL
than any other plural derivation. They can apply to all of the signs
from the open lexical classes that are not subject to any of the preced-
ing restrictions. However, these restrictions still cover a substantial
number of signs. For signs that cannot form a morphological plural,
number is either inferred from the context, indicated by numerals or
quantifiers (many), or expressed elsewhere in the clause, for exam-
ple in a predicate co-occurring with a nonplural argument.
. . . . -
. Compared with the change of movement pattern, plural deri-
vations involving change of handshape are far less productive. The
process is formally regular but is used with only a limited number of
lexemes (fewer than ten items) and is not easily applicable to other
signs.
This derivation involves replacing the handshape of a sign in the
basic form with either a or a handshape. The handshape is used
for meanings that refer to paired objects (e.g., eyes, legs) or to parallel
arrangements of several objects. The handshape is used in other
cases (i.e., in connection with plurality in general). Change of hand-
shape for plurality can be subject to idiosyncratic meaning changes
S L S
and can also be a source of lexicalization. It can serve as input to

further derivational processes. Figure shows the sign /
with two changes of handshape derivations, the second with
an additional alternating aspectual modification.
... Iconic Plural. Iconic plural refers to a specific number above

one and is expressed by various iconic processes. Iconic plural is cre-
ated by rules that are similar to those for nonspecific plural except
that there is a direct mapping of the form of plural morphemes to the
number of referents (e.g., three movement repetitions stand for three
rather than many referents; objects in a vertical arrangement are
shown by repetitions in a vertical rather than a horizontal line; and
four extended fingers stand for four rather than many referents).
Other semantic and formal characteristics also distinguish iconic plu-
ral from nonspecific plural, as detailed in the following sections.
. . . . -
. This derivation differs from change of movement pattern for
nonspecific plural in the following ways:
Repetitions are clearly separate rather than in rapid succession.
The spatial arrangement of repetitions is free and can correspond to
the situation one wishes to convey (e.g., in a circle, in a vertical
line).
In the case of one-handed signs both hands can be used for iconic
plural but not for nonspecific plural.
F . Go away, leave; go away, leave (plural); traffic (plural alternating

form)
The number of repetitions can correspond to the number of refer-

ents.
Iconic plural can represent either the number of referents or the
spatial arrangement of referents or both. For example:
three pointing signs (indexes) in a horizontal line representing three
siblings; only the number of referents is indicated, not their spa-
tial arrangement;
three pointing signs in a vertical line representing the levels of a
three-story house; both number and arrangement are indicated.
The formational restrictions to distributive and iterative forms
apply in the same way as specified in section .... Iconic plural is
an efficient and economical way to convey specific information
about the number and spatial arrangement of referents. In principle
there is no limit to how many referents can be iconically represented,
but in practice most occurrences concern numbers up to about five.
. . . . . This
derivation differs from change of handshape for nonspecific plural in
the following ways:
The number of extended fingers is relevant for numbers from one
to five, not just for four or five.
The number of fingers corresponds to the number of referents.
Changes in meaning are always transparent, never idiosyncratic.
Numeral incorporation belongs here as far as the category of
number is concerned. However, it is different from other instances
of iconic plural by virtue of its paradigmatic organization. Lexemes
from particular semantic fields (temporal expressions, monetary units,
and numerical expressions) can vary their handshape according to the
number of units (figure shows some examples: third, three
months, four anna coins). Most signs that can undergo numeral
incorporation have a basic form with one extended (index) finger
that also indicates the number one at the same time. In IPSL the
signs for hour, month, year, rupee, anna coin, . . . and
a half, . . . thousand, minus . . . , ordinal numbers, and school
grades can undergo numeral incorporation. There is considerable in-
dividual and dialectal variation as well as idiosyncratic variation across
S L S
F . third, three months, four Anna-coins
different signs as to the extent of numeral incorporation. Dialects

with one-handed numbers greater than five (cf. section .) can max-
imally incorporate numbers from one through ten. The most com-
mon paradigm covers the numbers from one through five, but others
incorporate only one and two or only four and eight, for example.
6.2. Applicability of Number System

All of the morphological processes indicating number are deriva-
tional. None of the number categories can be said to apply generally
to an entire word class, and it is not obligatory in any case to indicate
number. Many constraints on the formation of the various number
categories apply. The constraints under section . were described
with respect to the three open lexical classes. Number marking for
other classes is as follows:
... Number on Pronouns and Demonstratives. The number system

for the word class of indexical signs differs from the other paradigms
in that there is an additional plural form, realized as a half-circle
movement, that indicates nonspecific plural for humans only. So
whereas the paradigm for all of the other word classes consists of
(maximally) transnumeral, dual, nonspecific plural, and iconic plural,
the paradigms for the index in pronominal function and for demon-
stratives are as follows:
pronouns: transnumeraldual (suppletive form!)nonspecific plu-
ral, distributive formnonspecific plural for humansiconic
plural
demonstratives: transnumeralnonspecific plural, distributive

formnonspecific plural for humansiconic plural
... Number on Interrogatives/Indefinites, Functional Particles, Nonman-

ual Signs, and Discourse Particles. These signs show no number
marking.
... Number on Classificatory Stems. The classificatory stems person

(whole entity) and (person by) legs show the following number
categories:
person (whole entity): singulardualiconic plural (numeral in-
corporation)
(person by) legs: singulardualnonspecific plural (change of
handshape)
The basic form, with an upright index finger in person (whole
entity) and index and middle fingers facing downward in (person
by) legs is always interpreted as referring to one person (i.e., they are
singular, not transnumeral). The same forms articulated with both
hands refer to two persons (dual). Both stems occur in partly mutually
exclusive contexts. With reference to number this means that non-
specific plural can be expressed only with the (person by) legs stem
(using the handshape), whereas iconic plural can be expressed only
with the person (whole entity) stem for numbers up to five using
numeral incorporation.
6.3. Markedness
Transnumeral is the unmarked term both formally and functionally.
Of the other forms, nonspecific plural is functionally unmarked, oc-
curring in a greater number of contexts than iconic plural and dual.
Formationally, plural forms involving handshape change, and dual
forms are marked because they are the most restricted, occurring
with the smallest number of lexical items.
6.4. Interrelations with Other Systems

There are more number categories for humans in pronominal and de-
monstrative forms than for other entities (see section ..), with the
former having an additional nonspecific plural personal category. The
S L S
classificatory stems that refer to humans also differ from other word
classes in number marking in that they have a singular rather than a
transnumeral category.
6.5. Lexical Class of Numbers

IPSL has a full set of lexical numbers that is partly based on written
numbers. Considerable dialectal variation occurs in the forms of
number signs. Numbers one through five consist of the correspond-
ing number of vertically extended fingers in all of the dialects. Num-
bers six through nine employ special handshapes in some dialects,
and one set of forms is an imitation of the shape of written numbers
(see figure ). In other dialects more extended fingers are added
from the second hand. The number ten has at least three variants.
Numbers greater than ten consist of a sequence of single-digit num-
bers corresponding to the written form (e.g., the year is indi-
cated by the sequence one-nine-eight-six). An existing sign for
thousand is not used in dates.
Starting with , some dialects use a different system that
takes the number of horizontally extended fingers to stand for the
number of zeros, so that , has three extended fingers, and
, has five (see figure ). Forms with three, five, and seven
extended fingers are attested and are quite common. Note that these
numbers have single corresponding words in Hindi/Urdu: hazar for
,, lakh for ,, and crore for ,,. In-between mem-
bers and higher members of the paradigm should in principle be pos-
sible, too. Other dialects use a fingerspelled for lakh and a
fingerspelled for crore.
F . Special handshape forms for numbers six to nine

F . :, , and
All of the people in the region use a counting system on the

hands, with the thumb indicating parts of the fingers of the same
hand. Each finger can indicate three numbers, so that each hand can
count up to fifteen. This system is used for calculating by oneself and
is not the source of any number signs in IPSL. To signal numbers to
someone else one would use vertically extended fingers, which is
identical to one of the possible IPSL number paradigms.
7. Types of Possession
7.1. Predicative Possession
... Predicative Possession in Positive Clauses. IPSL has no lexical verb
have. To express predicative possession the existential (see
figure ) is used in positive clauses (The boy, a ball exists, i.e.,
The boy has a ball). All kinds of possessors and possessed items are
constructed in the same way, for example:
.. Sign: .
mor: I woman sibling
tra: I have a sister.
.. Sign: : :: .
mor: Manzur car
tra: Manzur has a car.
.. Sign: .
mor: house roof
tra: The house has a roof.
S L S
Note that when the possessor is inanimate, the construction tends

to be ambiguous between possessive and existential (The house has
a roof. There is a roof on the house.).
... Predicative Possession with Modified Possessed Items. When the

possessed is accompanied by a modifier or a quantifier, there is no
existential, and the modifier or quantifier appears in the position that
the existential occupies in other possessive clauses, for example:
.. Sign: :.
mor: I woman sibling three
tra: I have three sisters.
.. Sign: : :: :.
mor: Manzur car good.
tra: Manzur has a good car.
Note that these sentences are systematically ambiguous between

predicative possession and possessive NP constructions, as if to say:
I have three sistersMy sisters are three, Manzur has a good
carManzurs car is good.
... Predicative Possession in Negative Clauses. For negative posses-

sion the existential is not used because it cannot be combined
with either manual or nonmanual negation. Instead, the neutral neg-
ative sign functions as a negative existential in Pakistani dialects of
IPSL (example .). Indian dialects use either the neutral negative
particle or a suppletive negative existential particle (not exist),
consisting of an F handshape with a circular movement. Note the
same ambiguity with inanimate possessors as in positive clauses (ex-
ample .).
.. Sign: :: :.
mor: I car
tra: I dont have a car.
.. Sign: :: : :.
mor: P here deaf C
tra: Pakistan doesnt have a college for the
deaf / There is no college for the deaf here

in Pakistan.
7.2. Possessive NP Construction

Possessive NP constructions are realized by simple apposition of
possessor and possessed. Possessive NP is in quotes here insofar as
a nominal word class cannot be established for IPSL (see section ).
The possessor always precedes the possessed, in accordance with the
more general principle in IPSL for modifiers to precede modified
items. The possessive NP construction is identical for all types of
possessors and possessed items. Personal pronouns can appear in the
possessor slot. Special possessive pronoun forms (with an A hand-
shape) are restricted to emphatic contexts.
.. Sign: :
mor: I father
tra: my father
.. Sign: : :
mor: Muna hand
tra: Munas hand(s)
.. Sign: : :
mor: teacher watch
tra: the teachers watch
7.3. Nature of Possessive Relation

Possessive constructions in IPSL seem to be semantically quite vague.
This is suggested by the various kinds of ambiguity that have been
noted in the preceding possessive constructions. Existence in con-
nection with and possession of partly overlap in IPSL. The
possessive NP construction is identical to other modifying con-
structions in IPSL that are also realized by apposition.
8. Negation
8.1. Clause Negators
IPSL has manual negative signs as well as nonmanual negation (head-
shake). There are two uninflecting clause-final negative particles (cf.
S L S
section .. functional particles), : and :_: (see figures

and ). In addition, is used for the negative imperative (see
figure ). : is a neutral negation, whereas :_: expresses
contrastive negation. The clause-final negative particles always have
scope over the whole clause, whereas the scope of headshake nega-
tion is variable.
... Nonmanual Negation. Nonmanual negation consists of a side-

to-side headshake. Its minimal scope (i.e., the manual signs it co-
occurs with) includes the clause-final constituent (either the negative
particle or the predicate if there is no negative particle), whereas the
beginning of the clause may or may not fall under its scope. The
maximum scope is the whole clause. If the initial part of a clause does
not fall under the scope of headshake negation, it is interpreted as
topicalized (see section ..). Headshake negation can occur by
itself without an additional negative particle, as well as vice versa,
even though a combination of both is most common. The double
expression of negation by manual and nonmanual means is not se-
mantically different from manual only or nonmanual only nega-
tion. It never has positive meaning and is not emphatic either.
Headshake negation can be combined with a number of other non-
manual signals.
.. Sign: .
mor: I die
nmn: -------
tra: Im not dead.
.. Sign: ?
mor: you die
nmn: --------
----
tra: You didnt die?
.. Sign: : :.
mor: I work
nmn: ---------
tra: As for me, I am not working.
.. Sign: : :.
mor: I work
nmn: ----
tra: As for my work, (Im) not (working).
Headshakes can indicate nonnegative meanings that have seman-
tic affinity with negation, in particular with an adverbial meaning
unfortunately and as a discourse marker.
... Neutral Negation. The sign : is used for neutral negation

(for examples, see section ...). No additional connotations are ex-
pressed beyond the negative. : contrasts formally and func-
tionally with :_:, and only one of them can occur in any given
clause. : is also used as a negative existential (cf. section ..).
... Contrastive Negation. :_: basically means no/not, in con-

trast to X. The contrast may be either explicit in the preceding
text or implicit (implied by general knowledge or by the signer), for
example:
C P T
.. Sign: $ : :.
mor: city good
tra: Cities arent nice. (said without any particular context)
.. Sign: : :. $ :_:.
mor: village good city _
tra: Villages are nice. By contrast, cities are not.
I C
.. Sign: $: :.
mor: worry
tra: Theres no problem/worry.
.. Sign: $: :_:.
mor: worry _
S L S
tra: Theres no problem/worry (contrary to what you may be

expecting, contrary to what usually happens, etc.).
8.2. Negative Reply to a Question

:, :_:, and can all be used in reply to a question
with slightly different meanings. : simply means no,
:_: establishes a negative contrast with the question, and -
is a refutation with an imperative meaning component. -
is similar to :_: semantically but occurs less often.
.. Sign: :.
mor:
tra: No (this is not the case).
.. Sign: :_:.
mor: _
tra: No (contrary to what has been suggested in the
question).
.. Sign: .
mor: _
tra: No (you shouldnt think so).
Headshake negation without any accompanying manual signs is

another option in response to a question. However, it covers only
the meaning of neutral negation, that is, it is equivalent to :
but not to :_: and . Some signers use a loan sign from
American Sign Language that is based on the fingerspelled letters
- as used in the American one-handed fingerspelling system (IPSL
uses a two-handed fingerspelling system). The exact semantics of this
sign are not clear.
To reply to a negative question, IPSL in principle copies the po-
larity of the question. If the answer is no, very often a positive state-
ment would be added, for example:
.. Sign: :: :?
mor: you go
tra: Arent you going?
.. Sign: :, :.
mor: I stay
tra: No, Im staying.
To answer yes to a negative question, a common strategy is to

use existential (possibly accompanied by a head nod). Note that
most IPSL signers do not use a lexical sign . A head nod is the
usual equivalent of yes (see section ..).
.. Sign: :: .
mor: I go
tra: Yes, Im (really) going.
8.3. Negative Imperative

The functional particle is used in negative imperatives both
with immediate force (dont) and with modal-like meaning
(you/one should not). There are no politeness levels here beyond
those that can be expressed by the tone of signing. covers
all of the politeness levels and distant/immediate distinctions made in
positive commands, so these grammatical parameters are neutralized
in the negative.
.. Sign: :: .
mor: beat- _
tra: Please dont beat me! (signed in a pleading tone)
.. Sign: :: .
mor: deaf push_aside _
tra: Deaf people shouldnt be neglected.
8.4. Negating Clause Constituents

Only predicates can be negated in IPSL. Therefore, the target of
clause negation can be manipulated in two ways: by the choice of
predicate and, depending on the choice of predicate, by the scope
of nonmanual negation. It is not possible to have either manual or
nonmanual negation occur with constituents clause initially or clause
medially.
S L S
... Choice of Predicate. In IPSL all of the signs from the open lexical
classes can be used predicatively without any morphological processes
applied, just by putting them in the clause-final predicate slot. The
choice of sign to put in predicate position in a negative clause affects the
interpretation of that clause. The principal target of negation is evident
when a positive statement is added, a very common strategy in IPSL.
The following sentences show examples with signs in the predicate slot
that might be quantifiers, verbs, nouns, and adverbs in other languages.
.. Sign: :: : : :, :.
mor: man steal three four
tra: The robbers were not three, (they were) four.
.. Sign: : :: : :, :.
mor: three man steal loan
tra: The three men didnt steal, (they) took a loan.
.. Sign: : :: :, .
mor: steal man woman
tra: The robbers werent men, (they were) women.
.. Sign: : :: :, $.
mor: steal easy difficult
tra: (They could) not steal (it) easily, (it was) difficult.
... Scope of Nonmanual Negation. Because the scope of nonmanual

negation always includes clause-final constituents, the choice of
predicate allows manipulation of those signs that fall within its scope.
The manual negation in examples .. may in each case be
replaced by a headshake accompanying the predicate, with the initial
signs topicalized, resulting in sentences such as these:
.. Sign: :: : :, :.
mor: man steal three four
nmn:
tra: The robbers, they were not three, (but) four.
.. Sign: : :: :, :.
mor: three man steal loan
nmn:
tra: The three men, they didnt steal, (they) took a loan.
8.5.8.9. Negative Members of Shifter Classes, Negative Adposition,

Negative Linker, Negative Tags, and Negative Derivational Processes
None. IPSL does not express negative shifters (nobody, nothing).
Therefore, sentences are ambiguous between an interpretation in-
volving a negative shifter and an interpretation involving sentential
negation, for example:
.. Sign: :: :.
mor: come
tra: (a) (You/he/someone/they, etc.) didnt come.
(b) Nobody came.
.. Sign: : :.
mor: I see
tra: (a) I dont/cant see.
(b) I see nothing.
8.10. Inherently Negative Lexemes

Some signs make use of a spatial metaphor equating up with posi-
tive and down with negative. This becomes particularly appar-
ent in the case of sign pairs differing only in the direction of
movement (e.g., pass and happy with an upward movement,
fail and sad with a downward movement). Only a limited num-
ber of signs exploit this spatial metaphor, so this is not a productive
morphological process. The signs concerned do not differ in any way
morphologically and/or syntactically from other signs.
IPSL also has nonmanual elements that are inherently negative, in
particular adverbial facial expressions meaning with difficulty
and negative emphasis/doubt, as well as the nonnegative head-
shake mentioned in section ... However, because these are supra-
segmentals spreading over manual signs, they cannot be called
lexemes.
8.11. Interrelationship of Negation with Other Systems

Negation is not compatible with existential . All of the combina-
tions of the existential sign with any of the three manual nega-
tives or with headshake negation are ungrammatical (examples
S L S
..). Instead, the neutral negation functions as a negative exis-

tential, or some dialects use a suppletive negative existential (cf. sec-
tions ... and ..).
.. Sign: * : .
mor: I house
.. Sign: * :_:.
mor: I house _
nmn: ---------------
.. Sign: * .
mor: I house
nmn: -----------------
tra: There is no TV in my home. I dont have a TV at home.
Manual and nonmanual negation are equally incompatible with
content questions, that is, there are no negative content questions (cf.
section ..). Negative polar questions can occur without restriction
with either manual or nonmanual negation.
9. Questions
9.1. Polar Questions
... Marking of Polar Questions. IPSL has distinct nonmanual mark-
ing for polar questions (also known as yes/no questions) and for con-
tent questions (also known as wh-questions). Polar questions are
signaled by nonmanual marking alone, corresponding to questions
that are marked just by intonation in spoken languages. Marking for
polar questions consists of the following features:
[eyes wide open
head leaning forward
eye contact with addressee]
Optionally, eyebrows may also be raised, and the shoulders or torso
(in addition to the head) may be leaning forward. Eyebrow raise occurs
particularly in echo questions (Do you mean X? Did you say X?)
to add emphasis. The last sign in the sentence is held longer than usual
in its final position, that is, it receives an extra hold (indicated by a
line --- following the sign on the sign transcription line).
... Constituent Order and Scope of Nonmanual Marking in Polar Ques-

tions. The order of constituents in the sentence remains the same as
in statements:
.. Sign: : :: .
mor: father car
tra: (My) father has a car.
.. Sign: : : --?
mor: father car
nmn: ------------------
tra: Does (your/his/their) father have a car?
The scope of the nonmanual signal (i.e., the manual signs it

co-occurs with) is variable. It may extend over the whole clause
(example .), but the initial part of the clause is commonly outside
the scope of the nonmanual signal. In this case, the initial sign(s) can
be said to be topicalized (see section ..). The minimal scope of
the nonmanual signal is the last sign in the sentence:
.. Sign: : : :$ --?
mor: mother father birth deaf
nmn: -----
tra: The mother, the father and the children(are they all)
deaf ?
... Negative Polar Questions. Negative polar questions can be

formed by combining the nonmanual signal with nonmanual nega-
tion (headshake) and/or negative particles. Because negative particles
are clause final, they always fall under the scope of the nonmanual
marking for questions. The latter can be combined freely with head-
shake negation, and the scope of both markings can be realized inde-
pendently of each other:
.. Sign: : --?
mor: understand
nmn: --------------------
tra: Dont (you) understand?
S L S
.. Sign: $:: :--?

mor: sign turtle
nmn: ----------------
------
tra: Dont (you know) the sign turtle?
9.2. Content Questions

... Marking of Content Questions. Content questions are marked
both nonmanually and by the interrogative sign : (see figure ).
As in polar questions, the clause-final sign receives a prolonged hold.
The nonmanual configuration for content questions is this:
[eyebrows raised
head tilted backward]
To the extent that the parts of this configuration are articulatorily

independent of each other, they can sometimes be realized at differ-
ent points in the clause, or some parts can be missing (this is also true
of polar questions). The backward head tilt seems to be more closely
associated with the interrogative sign than with the rest of the clause,
so that sometimes eyebrow raise starts early in the clause, but the
head tilt accompanies only the clause-final interrogative sign. In ad-
dition, a number of complexities depend, for example, on discourse
rules for eye gaze direction or facial marking of adverbial functions.
For instance, in example . there is no eyebrow raise because the
clause is accompanied by an adverbial facial expression meaning
strenuous/with difficulty/problematic. Since this adverbial facial
expression requires the eyebrows to be lowered, the raised eyebrow
component of the content-question marking is overridden. It is a
general principle in IPSL that adverbial facial expressions override
grammatical facial expressions when there is a conflict.
.. Sign: $: :?
mor: problem
nmn: difficulty-----
head back
tra: What is/are the problem(s)?
... Content Question Words. The sign : is the only content-

question word in IPSL, covering the whole range of question words
in other languages (who, what, where, how, etc.). It may appear by
itself if the intended question is clear from the context, or it may be
accompanied by various disambiguation devices. The default mean-
ing (if there are no other clues) is what. Sometimes a mouth pat-
tern contributes to the meaning (e.g., kaise how, kyu:n why,
kab when). This is one of the few instances in IPSL where a mouth
pattern may be crucial for understanding the intended meaning.
.. Sign: : :: :--?
mor: child angry
nmn: ------
mth: kyu:n
tra: Why is the child angry?
Otherwise, : may combine with a number of other signs to

narrow down its meaning. Common combinations are the following:
face or man : who

day or time : when
place : where
count : how many
Do what can be rendered as work :, which is ex-

pressed by a number of indexes in different directions followed by
:, and there is a tendency for : to be two-handed when it
means how. Some evidence exists that conventional combinations
with : may be evolving toward compounds, but except for one
possible instance (day :) they are not compounds at the
current stage.
Note that a difference between sentences such as Who did John
hit? and Who hit John? cannot be expressed at the clause level in
IPSL. They would both involve the sequence /
:. Instead, one must infer the semantic role of the questioned
constituent from discourse, for example: (Someone) is injured. John
hit him. Whom did (he) hit? vs. John is injured. Who hit (him)?
S L S
... Constituent Order and Scope of Nonmanual Marking in Content

Questions. The interrogative sign : is a member of the class of
functional particles ( see section ..) and therefore obligatorily ap-
pears in clause-final position (either by itself or in combination with
another sign), regardless of the position that a corresponding constit-
uent would occupy in a statement, for example:
.. Sign: DO PA:NC.
mor: I age two five
tra: I am years old.
.. Sign: KYA:?
mor: you age
tra: How old are you?
.. Sign: KAL : ::.
mor: tomorrow I Delhi go
tra: I am going to Delhi tomorrow.
.. Sign: : :: DIN KYA:?
mor: you Delhi go day
tra: When are you going to Delhi?
In rare instances : may occur clause initially to introduce a
causal clause (because). This is probably due to influence from the
spoken language (causal conjunction kyu:nke because in Hindi/
Urdu; cf. kyu:n why). : is not used as a relative clause intro-
ducer. Observations about the scope of the nonmanual signal men-
tioned earlier for polar questions apply in the same way here.
... Content Questions and Negation. Content questions are not com-
patible with negation (in sentences such as Why didnt you call me?
Who is not coming? etc.). They cannot combine with negative signs
because there is only one clause-final position into which either the
interrogative or the negative particle can go, and they do not combine
with headshake negation either. Because it is physically possible to com-
bine the content-question facial expression with a headshake, the latter
is a linguistic, rather than an articulatory, constraint. Consequently, neg-
ative content questions have to be split up into two clauses. For exam-
ple, Why didnt you call me? is expressed as You didnt call me.
Why? The negative content question Who didnt come? could be

expressed in a discourse such as Five persons came. One didnt come.
Who was it? Similarly, multiple content questions (such as Who did
what?) cannot be expressed in a single clause.
9.3. Interrogative and Indefinite

Interrogative and indefinite functions are clearly formationally re-
lated. The interrogative sign in IPSL has a particular handshape
whose distribution is highly restricted. Except in :, it is used only
in the discourse particle (an end-of-utterance and hesitation
marker; see section ..) and in the indefinite sign : (see figure
). This sign is similar in its semantics to : in that it covers a
whole range of indefinite meanings (some, something, someone,
sometimes, etc.). It may be combined with disambiguating signs in a
way similar to the combinations involving : (see section ..),
for example man : someone, place :
somewhere; it may be repeated, and a mouth pattern may be
added for disambiguation (as in example ., kabhi: sometime).
.. Sign: : : :
mor: you deaf friend meet friend
mth: kabhi kabhi
Sign: :: --?
mor: meeting
nmn: ---------------
tra: As for your sometimes meeting deaf friends, are there any
meetings?
F . :, :, and . Formationally related interrogative, indefinite, and

discourse particle
S L S
.. Sign: :: : :.
mor: man walk
tra: Someone/some man was walking.
10. Subordinate Clauses
10.1. Form of Subordinate Clauses
IPSL has only one type of subordinate clause, with a vague subordi-
nating meaning covering the semantics of various subordinate-clause
types found in other languages. Subordinate clauses are realized
through a combination of facial expression, head posture, and
rhythm. This pattern is subject to minor variations, but the most
common realization is the following:
The subordinate clause always precedes the main clause.
The entire subordinate clause is characterized by wide-open eyes
and raised eyebrows.
There is a head nod (i.e., the head is lowered) on the last sign of
the subordinate clause.
The last sign of the subordinate clause is held longer, resulting in a
pause at the clause boundary.
After the pause the head is raised again, and facial expression returns
to normal.
Some of these characteristics can be absent, in particular if there
is a conflict between the nonmanual features of subordinate and other
functions. For example, the expression of a diminutive may require
the eyes to be narrowed, whereas subordination requires the eyes to
be wide open. Conversely, the clause boundary may be marked by
additional features such as eye blink or a change in body posture. If
it is topicalized, the initial part of the subordinate clause may not fall
under the scope of nonmanual subordination (cf. examples . and
.). Example . illustrates the most common subordination pat-
tern (note that there are two subordinate clauses).
.. Sign: : :$
mor: I rich born deaf I help
nmn: subord----- subord-----
tra: If someone is rich, and if he has a deaf child, he will help
(other deaf people).
Note that in IPSL it is common to use first person when making

general statements, that is, one says if I am rich to mean if some-
one is rich, for example.
10.2. Semantic Range of Subordinate Clauses

The construction described in section . has a general subordinat-
ing meaning that leaves open the kind of semantic relationship be-
tween the two clauses, so that the main clause is foregrounded and
the subordinate clause is backgrounded without further semantic
specification. Because the subordinating construction is vague with
respect to its semantic content, distinct conditional clauses, temporal
clauses, relative clauses, and so on of other languages, all translate into
the same construction in IPSL. Often several translations are possible
(cf. examples .. and .). The following examples illustrate the
range of semantic relationships that can be expressed by the subordi-
nating construction.
.. Sign: _:: : :_:

mor: * hearing meet again_and_again
nmn: subord---------------------------------
Sign: :
mor: name -forward.right
tra: If you meet a hearing person again and again,
he should (get a sign) name.
.. Sign: :: : : $$.

mor: study understand success further try
nmn: subord-------------
tra: His studies, after he had successfully completed them, he
tried further.
.. Sign: ::
mor: deaf all understandmuch -up.front
nmn: subord-------------------
Sign: :.
mor: understand I talk
tra: (a) I can understand and talk to all of those deaf (persons)
who are intelligent.
S L S
(b) If all of the deaf (persons) are intelligent, I can

understand and talk to them.
.. Sign: : : : _: .
mor: now Yousuf together time lessen
nmn subord---
tra: (a) Now that I am together with Yousuf, I have less time.
(b) I have less time because I am together with Yousuf
now.
11. Discourse Organization

Discourse in IPSL is structured by a number of both manual and
nonmanual discourse markers. Similarly, interactions between signer
and addressee are regulated by discourse markers. Section . pro-
vides a list (probably not exhaustive) of text-structuring discourse
markers commonly used in IPSL.
IPSL is a highly context-dependent language. Ellipsis is pervasive,
and grammatical structures are often vague in meaning (cf. subordi-
nation in section , possession in section , and content questions
in section .). On the other hand, geometrical shapes and spatial
relationships of entities are often expressed very precisely, and space
is crucial to the organization of discourse as a whole (see section .
on the role of space in discourse).
IPSL has several topicalization devices (see section .) and for-
mally distinguishes between contrastive and noncontrastive topics.
11.1. Text-Structuring Discourse Markers

... Manual Discourse Markers. (see figure in section .):
The handshape of (the same as in the interrogative and indefinite
signs) points to an interrogative/indefinite-meaning component that
is present in both main uses: (a) as a clause-final particle signaling the
end of utterances (Thats all. What else can I say?) and (b) as a
clause-initial hesitation marker (Well, what should I say?).
_ (see figure ): Hesitation marker filling a pause during
which the signer wants to hold the floor but is thinking about what
to say next (Just a moment, I have to think, but its still my turn to
talk.). In enumerations _ is oriented forward in the text (I
F . _
am going to mention more items), whereas is oriented back-

ward, as if the signer wanted to end the list after each item.
: (see figure ): This sign marks the beginning of a new para-
graph in a text (and next . . .). It also has a temporal meaning, then,
which is probably the source of its meaning as a discourse particle.
... Nonmanual Discourse Markers. Clause-final head nod: This oc-

curs after or together with the last manual sign in the clause and is
used for affirmative purposes. It corresponds more or less to emphatic
intonation in a spoken language and can often be adequately repre-
sented by an exclamation mark in a written translation.
Head nod in enumerations: In enumerations each item of the list
may be accompanied by a simple accentuated head nod that creates
an intonation break between them. This corresponds to a coordina-
tion marker such as and (IPSL has no lexical sign for and).
.. Topicalization. IPSL has two topicalization strategies: nonman-

ual marking of the topic and indirect topic marking depending on
the scope of other facial expressions.
S L S
F . :
... Nonmanual Topic Marking. Topics can be marked by accompa-

nying the topicalized sign(s) with a particular facial expression. This
mainly involves raised eyebrows. Additionally, the topicalized con-
stituent can be set off from the rest of the sentence by a prolonged
hold, by a change in head position, or by eye blink. The topicalized
constituent appears at the beginning of the clause.
.. Sign: : :: :?
mor: now woman separate man separate
nmn: ---- ------
tra: As for now, why are boys and girls separate now?
Nonmanual topic marking is used for contrastive topics. In exam-
ple . the present situation (now) is contrasted with the earlier
situation and is therefore marked nonmanually.
... Indirect Topic Marking. Many clauses in IPSL discourse are ac-
companied by one of the grammatical or adverbial facial expressions
(see sections , , and ), which are identical with respect to their
scope behavior in clauses with topics. They may extend over the
whole clause, but the initial part of the clause may be outside their
scope. All of the signs at the beginning of a clause that do not fall
under the scope of a facial expression can be said to be topicalized.
The extent of topicalization can be varied freely, from just one sign
to almost the whole clause (see examples . and .). Clauses can
have double topicalization, with both nonmanual and indirect topic
marking. In these cases, nonmanual topic marking precedes indirect
topic marking (see example .).
.. Sign: :: $: :_:.
mor: eat worry _
nmn: ---------------
tra: As for earning a living, they dont need to worry.
.. Sign: :: $:: : : --?
mor: man woman sign talk hand little separate
nmn: -------
tra: As for men and women talking in sign with their hands,
is that a bit different (from each other)?
.. Sign: :: : ::: :
mor: accident foot break see little_bit
nmn: ------- -----
Sign: :.
mor:
nmn: -----
tra: As for an accident (for example), to see someone break
his foot, that was not the case (for me) at all.
11.3. The Role of Space in Discourse

... Localization. Space not only plays an important role in syntax
but also organizes discourses as a whole. The sign space can be
thought of as a kind of stage where a signer enacts scenes for an
audience. Therefore, localization of referents is not random but can
contribute significantly to discourse meaning. For example, to con-
trast two objects, persons, situations, or reference times, signers often
localize these opposite each other in the right and the left half of the
sign space. On the other hand, when people are conceived of as a
group, they tend to be localized at the same location in space. Such
spatial arrangements can be held constant over entire discourses.
... Geometrical Shapes. IPSL has a large set of signs denoting all
kinds of geometrical shapes (e.g., line, circle, pipe, square, surface).
S L S
These can be productively modified to describe complex spatial ar-

rangements. Discourses often start with outlining the situation in
terms of the geometrical properties of the objects involved. For ex-
ample, a signer might start by saying something such as I am walk-
ing on a street (horizontal surface extending away from the body)
with electricity lines running across (lines signed at head level
from right to left) or I am shooting at a target ( with
two inside it). The actual objects are often not men-
tioned but are understood from the context, especially if there is no
conventional lexical sign for an object. Different geometrical signs
can describe one and the same object or situation, depending on how
it is construed.
11.4. Perspective in Discourse

Sign languages work in a cinematic way in that the signer can
adopt various perspectives in the course of a text. Spatial arrange-
ments as described in the preceding section on geometrical shapes
can be constructed from a birds-eye view or from the point of view
of a person involved in the situation. When several people (or some-
times animals) figure in a text, in particular a narrative text, the signer
typically takes the role of one of the participants, telling the story
from a first-person perspective. For example, rather than saying The
father is reading the newspaper, and the son shoots him with a water
pistol, a signer may say I am reading the newspaper, and my son
shoots me with a water pistol. Another common pattern is that the
signer first talks about each person individually without taking a par-
ticular perspective, but as soon as there is an interaction between
them, the signer assumes the role of one of them.
Typically the signer adopts the perspective of the more agent-
ive participant (i.e., an experiencer or an agent). This has important
consequences for other parts of IPSL grammar. For example, the fact
that indirect speech does not exist is due to the fact that signers always
take the perspective of the person saying something since this person
is more agentive than the addressee in the interaction. Moreover,
transitive directional predicates almost always move either toward or
away from the body because the signer is usually identical with one
of the participants in the interaction. Therefore, multidirectional
transitive predicates hardly ever occur.
References
Vasishta, M., J. C. Woodward, and K. L. Wilson. . Sign Language in
India: Regional Variation within the Deaf Population. Indian Journal of
Applied Linguistics ():.
Woodward, J. . The Relationship of Sign Language Varieties in India,
Pakistan, and Nepal. Sign Language Studies :.
Zeshan, U. a. Sign Language in Indo-Pakistan: A Description of a Signed
Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
. b. Gebardensprachen des Indischen Subkontinents. Ph.D. diss.,
Munich: LINCOM Europa.
Transcription Conventions
A multiline transcription is used to represent signed sentences and texts.
The lines are labeled sign, mor, nmn, mth, and tra.
In the uppermost sign line Hindi/Urdu (sometimes English) words
whose meanings come closest to the meaning of the corresponding sign are
printed in small capital letters. The words are not intended to be translations
or glosses but stand for the signs as a whole. This format is also used to talk
about individual signs in the body of the text. When more than one word
is needed to express the meaning of a single sign, the words are joined by a
line, for example, :_:_:: one_or_the_other. Parts of com-
pounds are joined by a plus sign ().
The mor line presents a morphological analysis of the signs. All of the
morphological modifications of the signs are glossed here. Note that English
words used in the glosses on this line are usually to be understood in terms
of their several derivations that together come close to the overall meaning
of the sign; for example, a sign glossed die can mean die, dead,
and death; a sign glossed marry can mean marry, marriage, and
married, as well as spouse. Table lists the abbreviations used on the
mor line.
The nmn line indicates nonmanual phenomena such as head position
and facial expressions. This line may consist of several sublines because sev-
eral nonmanual activities can occur at the same time. The scope of nonman-
ual markers is indicated by the length of a line following the transcription
symbol (e.g., -------). Table lists the abbreviations used on the nmn
line.
The mth line codes mouth patterns (i.e., movements of the mouth
imitating the articulation of words from the spoken language). They are
noted only when they are of particular relevance.
The tra line provides English translations of the signed sentences.
Words in brackets are additions that are not explicitly expressed in the
signed text but have been included in order to make the translation more
readable.
S L S
T . Abbreviations Used on the Mor Line

1 first person; body center location
distributive derivation
end-of-utterance discourse marker
existential particle
imperative particle
index
indefinite
interrogative particle
neutral negative particle
_ contrastive negative particle
_ negative imperative particle
plural
. emphatic pronoun(e.g.)
Pakistan; fingerspelled first letter of a word
(e.g.) * if ; fingerspelled word
(e.g.) -right sign positioned at or moving toward a particular location in
space
(e.g.) -1-right directional movement between two locations (e.g., center to
right)
T . Abbreviations Used on the Nmn Line

negative headshake
polar question
subord subordinating facial expression
topic marking
content question
(e.g.) difficulty adverbial facial expression
Graphics
The pictures are mostly self-explanatory, with arrows indicating the various
movement patterns. A star indicates contact with a body part or contact of
the hands with each other. A curved arrow with a circle around it indicates
a twist of the wrist in the direction of the arrow. When the hands are shown
in two or more subsequent positions, the darker coloring represents the
initial position and lighter coloring, the final position.

Indo-Pakistani Sign Language Grammar - Typological Outline (Zeshan)

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Indo-Pakistani Sign Language Grammar - Typological Outline (Zeshan)

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ULRIKE ZESHAN

Indo-Pakistani Sign Language

I - P Sign Language (IPSL) is the sign lan-

the sentence, and if there is a functional particle, it always follows the

compensating for this is the use of productive morphological con-

mother, again, once more, die, dead, death, start, begin-

... Directional Signs. Directional signs move between two points

2.2. Closed Lexical Classes

Some adverblike meanings can be signaled in IPSL by accompa-

... Classificatory Stems. Classificatory stems consist of a handshape

2.3. Closed Classes of Shifters

2.4. Closed Grammatical Systems

... Functional Particles. Functional particles are signs that assign a

and .). The functional particles (see figures ) and correspond-

neutral positive imperative, distant force

... Discourse Markers. IPSL has a number of manual and nonman-

... Indexical Signs. Indexical signs in IPSL include the equivalents

. . . . . The proximal demonstrative

. . . . . The auxiliary consists of pointing at two lo-

3. Relationship between Word Class and Functional Slot

is identical to clauses with arguments from the other open word

Signs from the two multifunctional open word classes appear in

4. Marking of Basic Syntactic Relations

4.1. Realization of Constituents, Word Order, and Pragmatic Inference

me, you to him/her, etc.; see figure ). Like directional predi-

F . Auxiliary: you to him/her

F . Auxiliary: I to him and he to me

F . Auxiliary: to each other

4.4. Directional Predicates

F . I teach s.o., s.o. teaches me (Karachi variety)

F . I tell s.o., s.o. tells me

thought of in terms of a spatial relationship (and metaphorical exten-

F . I invite s.o., s.o. invites me

IPSL has various subclasses of directional signs (cf. section ..).

F . Index, dual (/-/ and -/)

F . Index, plural personal

IPSL has no separate forms for nonemphatic possessive pronouns.

... Transnumeral. All of the basic forms of signs except classifica-

... Dual. The dual is formed by replicating the handshape, place

are one-handed in their basic form

... Nonspecific Plural. Nonspecific plural refers to any unspecific

F . The sign : basic, distributive, and iterative forms

and can also be a source of lexicalization. It can serve as input to

... Iconic Plural. Iconic plural refers to a specific number above

F . Go away, leave; go away, leave (plural); traffic (plural alternating

The number of repetitions can correspond to the number of refer-

F . third, three months, four Anna-coins

different signs as to the extent of numeral incorporation. Dialects

6.2. Applicability of Number System

... Number on Pronouns and Demonstratives. The number system

demonstratives: transnumeralnonspecific plural, distributive

... Number on Interrogatives/Indefinites, Functional Particles, Nonman-

... Number on Classificatory Stems. The classificatory stems person

6.4. Interrelations with Other Systems

6.5. Lexical Class of Numbers

F . Special handshape forms for numbers six to nine

All of the people in the region use a counting system on the

Note that when the possessor is inanimate, the construction tends

... Predicative Possession with Modified Possessed Items. When the

Note that these sentences are systematically ambiguous between

... Predicative Possession in Negative Clauses. For negative posses-

deaf / There is no college for the deaf here

7.2. Possessive NP Construction

7.3. Nature of Possessive Relation